How to clean cold air intake filter at home?

Cold air intake draws air from the environment to reduce the temperature of your engine. Since cold air is dense and contains oxygen, there will be more combustion, thereby increasing your car horsepower and performance. 

Your cold air intake filter prevents dust and debris from getting to your engine, for your air filter to work properly you will need to clean it regularly. In this article, we will jump into how to clean cold air intake filter at home, it is quite an easy process.

How To Clean Cold Air Intake Filter At Home?

The following steps will inform you on how to clean cold air intake filter at home. All you have to do is take out your cold air intake filter and use your cleaner on it, but there are other things that follow after that.

Step one:

Pop open your hood and remove your air filter using a screwdriver to loosen the mounting band on the air filter, be cautious not to let any debris fall into the airbox and you should also clean the spot that houses the air filter.

Step two:

Gently tap your filter on a hard surface to help remove larger debris like bugs. After that, you should proceed with applying your cleaning solution to your air filter. Be sure to get your cleaning solution into every opening for proper cleaning, your solution should stay on your air filter for as long as15 minutes or as indicated on your cleaning kit package.

Step three:

After your cleaner has stayed on your air filter for its assigned time, use warm water to rinse the cleaner off your air filter. Your water should come out at low pressure and be sure to clean every fold and check for any residue of the cleaner.

Step four :

After rinsing your filter, allow it to dry. Drying should take about 30 minutes to one hour, but to speed up drying, carefully shake out the water immediately after rinsing.

Step five:

After your air filter has dried, oil it to make it corrosion resistant. Start oiling your air filter from the middle and be careful not to over oil your air filter to prevent oil from getting to the sensitive wires of your MAF (mass air flow) wire. This is because a lot of modern-day vehicles use a MAF system. 

How To Clean A Dry Cold Air Intake?

There are two types of cold air intake filters, the dry filter, and the wet or oiled filter. The oiled filter can be washed and be reused, while the dry filter cannot be cleaned and is made of dry pleated paper. A cold air intake dry filter can only be used once and needs to be replaced after use.

But to reduce the dirt on a dry filter, use compressed air to blow off the debris of your dry air filter

How often do you clean a cold air intake filter?

How often you clean your cold air intake filter depends on the conditions in which your car is used. If your car is mostly used in an area where there is dust like a rural area, you will need to clean your air filter more than a normal car user would.

You should clean your air filter after driving 12,000 miles to 40,000 miles. The estimated interval for this distance is one year, so you should clean your cold air intake filter once or twice a year.

How To Clean Mopar and Roush Cold Air Intake Filter?

To clean your Mopar and rush cold air intakes, you will want to follow the process above. Firstly, you will have to free your air filter from your mounting band, then you can process it into cleaning your air filter.

You may want to use a mild cleaner like normal dish soap or detergent, so you won’t damage the synthetic fabric of your cold air intake. Allow your air filter to soak in your soap water for 10 to 15 minutes and then you should rinse it thoroughly. Allow your air filter to dry under sunlight or overnight, and then you can oil your air filter if it needs it, because not all air filters are meant to be oiled. 

Best Cold Air Intake Cleaning Kit

When cleaning your cold air intake filter, you would want to be careful as to which cleaner you use. Some cleaners may contain strong chemicals that may damage the material of your air filter.

K&N cold air intake cleaning kit

Key features

1. Contains a powerful degreaser that dissolves old oil and dirt
2. This set comes with a filter oil that fully cleans the pleats of your air filter

S&B cold air intake cleaning kit

Key features

1. Easy to use cleaning kit
2. Comes with a filter oil that offers a deep clean to your cold air intake filter.

Conclusion 

Cleaning your air filter is necessary to help your car engine perform better and last longer. For effective cleaning follow the instructions in the package of your air filter cleaning kit.

We have given detailed steps on how to clean cold air intake filter at home. We have also suggested some of the best cleaning kits for your cold air intake filter.